by C. G. Cooper
SSI’s head of security didn’t try to lighten the mood. This was exactly what he wanted. He needed them to be on edge. They were visibly uncomfortable. Dunn directed the suspects to leave their belongings on a table in the middle of the room. They were then searched from head to toe by one of the guards and escorted to separate rooms.
As the five men entered their respective space, Dunn stepped into a side room that housed the control room. One wall was comprised of flat panel screens displaying video of each of the ten rooms. Dr. Higgins was sitting in one of the comfortable leather couches, reviewing his files one last time. He looked up as Dunn walked in.
“Everything go well with the roundup?” he asked cheerfully.
Dunn nodded. “They didn’t freak out until we walked into the gallery.”
“That’s to be expected. I can only imagine what is going through their heads at this very moment.”
“I think I know who we should start with. This Zheng kid.” Dunn pointed at the screen broadcasting Terrence Zheng in high definition. “Something doesn’t feel right about him.”
“Anything tangible?”
“Not that I can put my finger on, but there’s something in his eyes. It just looks like he’s hiding something.”
Higgins pulled out Zheng’s file.
“Let’s see. Terrence Zheng, born April 3rd, 1989 in Burbank, California. Parents are from Beijing, China. He attended the University of California at Berkeley for undergrad. Graduated with honors in three years and double-majored in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering. Went to MIT for graduate school. Dropped out after his first year to run a start-up. Won a spot in SSI’s business mentoring program. His company was sold last year for a tidy sum, and Zheng was then hired by SSI. He is now part of our cyber-security team and is tasked with monitoring our network and preventing intrusion.
“I must say, Todd, if this is our man, we might have quite a predicament on our hands.”
Dunn sighed. All but one of the five suspects worked in some critical capacity at SSI. He didn’t even want to think about the possible calamity should SSI’s network be laid bare.
“You have any problem with me playing the bad cop?” Dunn asked.
“I was rather hoping you would.”
+++
Zheng looked up at the mirrored observation window. It was even brighter in the room than it had seemed from the observation deck. He was uncomfortable but tried to act calm as he waited for someone to begin the questioning.
Todd Dunn and Dr. Higgins entered. Higgins took a seat while Dunn leaned against the opposite wall. The muscular man’s calm demeanor was gone. It felt like Dunn was staring a hole right through him. Despite his thought to do otherwise, Zheng began to sweat.
Dr. Higgins started. “Hello, Terrence, my name is Dr. Higgins.” He reached across and shook Zheng’s hand warmly. “I’m sorry we’ve taken you away from your work but we had some pressing questions to ask you and your colleagues.”
“Anything I can do to help, Doctor,” Zheng offered as cheerfully as he could.
Higgins smiled. He could feel the nervousness rolling off of the young man. It wasn’t unusual even for innocent men to feel uncomfortable in such surroundings. Through the years Dr. Higgins had developed a highly accurate barometer for judging people’s innocence. It usually only took a little friendly banter for Higgins to deduce whether a suspect was, in fact, hiding something. Getting the person to divulge the information was something else entirely.
“I appreciate your help, Terrence. Now, as you know, we’ve lost one of our most important assets, Neil Patel. We’d like to ask you some questions to see if we’ve possibly missed something. Sometimes in these investigations it’s the smallest, most mundane detail that solves the case.”
Zheng nodded gravely.
“How long have you known Neil?”
“Uhh, I’d say a little over two years.”
“You were one of the recipients of our start-up funding, were you not?” Higgins asked.
“Yes. I started a company called PlanBot. It was essentially cloud-based planning software.”
Higgins glanced down at the file. “Ah yes, and it says here that you later sold the company.”
“That’s right. With SSI’s help we found a larger company that wanted our technology.”
“Fantastic! You must have been very excited.” Higgins smiled.
“It was a lot of fun. I couldn’t have done it without you guys, and Neil, of course.”
Higgins paused again and pretended to go through the file. He had already memorized the key points and merely used the time to form his next line of questioning.
“So after you sold your company, you decided to come work at SSI. Was there a reason you didn’t go into, what do they call it nowadays…early retirement?”
“Honestly, I considered it. I made enough money that it would’ve been easy to find a place and settle down.”
“So what made you come to work here?”
“I really enjoyed working with the guys when I was in the start-up pipeline. There was always the opportunity to start something new again but this seemed like a good challenge. After a couple conversations with Neil, he offered me a job.”
Higgins knew he was being told the truth. Not only did he sense it, he’d taken a similar path after working with SSI on a particularly challenging assignment during his tenure with the CIA. The caliber of individual and the high degree of integrity impressed Higgins immensely and ultimately led to his retirement from government service. He’d never looked back. It was a common story amongst SSI employees. Here they were valued.
“How do you like it now that you’ve been here for a bit?”
Zheng hesitated. He knew this was where he had to be careful. “It’s been good.”
Higgins caught the hesitation. Was it simply a matter of an employee being unsatisfied with his work or was there more?
“Let me rephrase the question. Do you feel like you’ve been challenged professionally since you’ve been here?”
After a brief pause, Zheng answered. “At first I don’t think Neil knew where to put me. To be honest, some of the stuff he had me working on was pretty basic. Once he had a better idea of my capabilities he started giving me more and more.”
It sounded reasonable. After all, Zheng was used to running his own company. Former business owners didn’t always turn out to be the best employees. Going from a world where you make all the decisions to having someone else telling you what to do wasn’t always easy.
“And how is your relationship with Neil?”
“I think it’s pretty good. He doesn’t really micromanage so I mainly just see him in staff meetings.”
“Did you know about the conference Neil was attending in Wyoming?”
Zheng hesitated for the briefest of moments. Here it comes, he thought. It didn’t matter. They couldn’t trace a thing to him unless Ponder gave him up. He knew that would never happen. Plus, he’d covered his tracks like a true professional.
“Sure. We all knew he was going out there. I think someone even bought him a cowboy hat as a joke.”
Higgins chuckled. “I think I heard about that. Did you know what the conference was for?”
“I’m not sure. Neil mentioned it was some VIP thing. I did hear that he was giving a class or maybe a lecture.”
Zheng began to relax. Maybe they really were just ironing out the details. Deep down he enjoyed this game of cat and mouse. He’d played it for years online. There’d been a few close calls in his early days of hacking, but he hadn’t come close to being caught in a while. This was the first time he’d experienced the adrenaline rush of a face-to-face confrontation. The excitement played through his body as he secretly savored the moment. He was better than them.
“Did he mention where he was staying in Wyoming?” Higgins asked.
“I’m not sure. I know he was in Jackson Hole, but I didn’t have the details.” In truth, Terrence Zheng knew all the details
. Neil was never very careful about hiding anything from his staff. Zheng had Neil’s entire itinerary memorized. He’d even pulled up the Google Earth image of Hotel Terra during the time he knew Neil was being kidnapped. What he wouldn’t have paid to see the look on the cocky bastard’s face.
“Did you know that Neil refused to take any personal security on the trip?”
Zheng did. “I think he mentioned something about that. Neil doesn’t seem like a big fan of being escorted around.”
As the suspect finished his answer, one of the guards walked in and handed something to Dunn. Trying to looking nonchalant, Zheng glanced their way. That’s my phone! For a split second Zheng panicked. He quickly calmed, though, knowing there was no way they could get past the encryption he’d installed. If they tried, the phone would effectively cease to work. He knew how to cover his tracks.
After a few whispered words, the guard left and Dunn turned his attention back to the questioning. Higgins twisted around in his chair and looked at Dunn. “Any updates?”
Dunn nodded, walked to the table and raised Zheng’s phone. “You wanna tell me what you were doing with your phone in the bathroom?”
“I was just checking my email.”
“Anything interesting?” Dunn asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Not really.”
“Let’s cut the crap, Terrence. Tell me what you were doing with your phone,” Dunn ordered.
Zheng stood his ground. “I told you, I had to take a leak and out of habit I checked my email. I might’ve gone on Facebook too, I don’t know.”
Dunn looked his suspect right in the eye. “Tell me how you know Nick Ponder.”
Zheng’s eyes dilated rapidly, but he caught himself before panicking. “I don’t know…”
There wasn’t time to finish. Faster than Zheng thought possible, Dunn came around the table, grabbed him by the neck and pinned him against the wall.
The smaller man struggled. He didn’t know how to respond. Unaccustomed to physical violence, Zheng pissed his pants as Dunn squeezed harder.
“I’ll ask you again, how do you know Nick Ponder?” he loosened his grasp just enough for Zheng to croak back.
“I…don’t…”
“Wrong answer, asshole.” Without warning, Dunn smacked him across the face. “Now tell me how you know Nick Ponder!”
Zheng looked to Dr. Higgins for help. To his surprise, the jolly doctor sat placidly. He actually looked like he was enjoying the exchange.
“You…can’t…do…”
Dunn answered with another slap that brought tears to Zheng’s eyes. “I can do whatever I want, you little traitor. Now you listen to me. What I’m doing right now is child’s play compared to what the Doc over there can do to you. You either answer me now or I let him have you.”
Zheng’s mind couldn’t comprehend what was happening. There were laws. He had rights. They couldn’t torture him, could they? His mind was clouding and he didn’t know how to respond. He wasn’t prepared for this.
“But…I don’t…”
Dunn answered the unfinished statement by slamming his forehead into Zheng’s nose. Bone and cartilage cracked as the small man crumpled to the ground and fell into unconsciousness.
+++
Ponder was still awake monitoring the deteriorating weather and hoping he wouldn’t get another message from his buyer. He’d have to get more creative with Patel. There was just too much riding on the transaction.
He opened up another tab on his internet browser and logged in to the email account he shared with Terrence Zheng. The last he’d heard from Zheng was that SSI was preparing for the FBI audit by working them overtime. Ponder didn’t care about how much the little Asian worked. He wanted to make sure they weren’t on his trail yet. After selling Neil, he didn’t give a shit who knew. Ponder would be long gone by then. Until that happened he might have to tie up some loose ends, like Terrence Zheng. The kid had been useful in getting Patel’s travel itinerary and giving him a heads-up about the teams that followed, but ultimately he was a liability. Ponder figured he’d probably have Zheng killed as a precaution. He’d done it before. The thought of killing another human was more a necessity for Ponder than a crime.
His internet connection was slow, so he waiting impatiently for the email server to load. Finally coming up on his screen, Ponder clicked on the Drafts folder. There was a message from Zheng.
My presence requested with four others by Dunn. I’ll let you know when I’m finished.
Ponder froze. The message was casual only because the little shit didn’t know who he was dealing with. Ponder knew Todd Dunn only by reputation. The former Ranger was regarded throughout the industry as a thorough operator. Dunn never cracked under pressure. He was as solid as they came.
Maybe there was a chance that they were still safe. Ponder quickly discarded the thought. He had to plan for the worst. Just as he was mulling over his options, his cell phone rang. He didn’t recognize the number but only a limited number of people knew where to reach him.
“Hello?”
“It’s me.”
Trapper!
“Where the hell have you been?”
“I’m at our house in the village.”
Ponder knew that meant Trapper was at their little safe house in Teton Village.
“What are you doing there?”
“We ran into a little distraction,” Trapper answered cryptically, always cautious about using even secure phones.
The hairs on the back of Ponder’s neck rose. “What kind of distraction?”
“Those friends we were looking out for invited us in for a little talk. I had to leave Lance so I could let you know.”
“How bad is it?” he asked.
“I think you’re about to have company.”
He gripped his cell phone to the point of breaking it. Nothing was going according to plan. It was time to salvage the situation.
“Can you get back here?”
“Not quickly.”
“What if I arrange a helo?”
“Sure.”
“Okay. I’ll call you back.”
Ponder ended the call and looked at Neil Patel’s sleeping form in the small video window of his computer screen. “Your friends aren’t gonna fuck this up for me.”
He picked up another phone and dialed the afterhours line for a helicopter pilot that owed him a few favors. Ponder had saved the guy’s helicopter company from creditors. In exchange, The Ponder Group had free use of the company’s helo.
After four rings the man picked up in a groggy voice. “Yeah?”
“It’s Ponder. I need you to fly one of my guys from Teton Village over to my place.”
“Can’t this wait until tomorrow?”
“No, it can’t. Now get your ass out of bed. My guy will be calling in a few minutes.”
Ponder slammed the phone down, picked up his cell phone and dialed the number Trapper had called from. He quickly gave his employee the phone number for the company owner and told him to get back as soon as possible. He’d need all the manpower he could get.
“Hey, boss, why don’t we just bug out for a while? We can take your new friend and get out of town.”
“I’m not running away. We’ll deal with these guys once and for all.”
Trapper knew better than to try to dissuade him. Once he made his mind up, that was it.
“Just don’t do anything until I get there, okay?” Trapper requested.
“Then hurry your ass up!”
Ponder threw his phone across the room where it crashed into the far wall and smashed into a hundred pieces. He calmed enough to think about the looming conflict. Part of him wanted to get the sale over with and leave. The fighter in him wanted to stick around and deal with the SSI problem. Maybe he could do both.
Grabbing another thick cigar, Ponder mentally ran through his options. He’d often dreamt about defending his castle against invading hordes. It looked like this might be his chance.
Camp Spartan, Arrington, TN
2:36am CST, September 28th
When Terrence Zheng finally awoke, he found himself strapped to a hospital gurney. His arms and legs were secured with Velcro restraints. He tried to lift his head and almost screamed in pain. His face throbbed from the vicious head butt administered by Todd Dunn. Zheng took a couple steadying breaths and looked up slowly.
They’d moved him into another room. It was similar to the first but as he looked around, Zheng saw a variety of medical equipment neatly arranged on two wheeled tables. Next to the tables were three IV stands.
“I see you’re awake, Terrence,” Dr. Higgins’s voice came over the speaker system. “I’ll be right in.”
Part of Zheng hoped it was all a bad dream. Maybe the FBI or even Nick Ponder would come running through the door and rescue him. He let his mind wander until Higgins entered through the room’s only door. He was attired in black scrubs and almost looked like a contestant on Top Chef except for the face shield he had propped on the top of his head.
“I’m sorry about Mr. Dunn’s little transgression. I got you cleaned up as best I could.”
“That man is a lunatic! When I get out of here…”
“Shhh,” Higgins ordered with a finger to his lips. “You might want to watch what you say. Mr. Dunn is still listening.” He pointed to the one-way window.
“But I haven’t done anything wrong!”
Higgins shook his head as if disappointed.
“We both know that’s not true, Terrence.”
“You don’t know…”
“Oh but I will, Terrence,” Higgins replied with an almost embarrassed shrug. “Do you know what I do at SSI, Terrence?”
“You…uh…you’re a shrink or something.”
“That’s partially true. While my job does require me to attend to the mental well-being of SSI employees, my background is actually in interrogation.”
Zheng strained to look back at the doctor.